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Ken Kennedy
| birth_place =Minneapolis, Minnesota | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Minneapolis, Minnesota Two Rivers, Wisconsin | billed = Green Bay, Wisconsin | trainer = Eric Hammers Mike Mercury Rockin' Randy | debut = September 1999 | retired = }} Kenneth Anderson (March 6, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) using the name Mr. Anderson. He wrestled under the ring name Mr. Kennedy during his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2005 and 2009. Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Anderson wrestled for numerous promotions in his career. While performing in these promotions, he won various championships, both in tag team and singles competition. Anderson was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky in 2005. After signing with WWE, Anderson made his debut on the SmackDown! roster in August 2005. In September 2006 he captured his first and only title with the company, the WWE United States Championship, and would hold onto it for a month. The following year, at WrestleMania 23, Anderson won the annual Money in the Bank ladder match, a contract, which guarantees a match for any of WWE's three top titles. He was released from his WWE contract on May 29, 2009. Early life Anderson is the son of James Alan Holmes and Sheryl Anderson and has one sister, Jennifer Holmes. His father died on April 13, 2006 from cancer. Anderson is a graduate of Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. During his time there, Anderson excelled at swimming and track & field. He also announced school basketball games and did a radio assignment in his Mass Media class. When doing this, a friend suggested to Anderson to repeat the surnames again to make it funnier. Before starting a wrestling career, Anderson worked at a nuclear plant as a security officer and as a personal trainer. He also served in the United States Army. Professional wrestling career Anderson was trained by All-Star Championship Wrestling Alumni Eric Hammers and Mike "Mercury" Krause. He was invited to appear in a trial basis on WWF Jakked, WWE Velocity, and WWE Sunday Night Heat as an independent jobber several times from 2001 to 2004. Anderson made some appearances on TNA Xplosion and was initially approached for a contract at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling by Jeff Jarrett but communications broke down. Anderson competed in the 2002 and 2003 Ted Petty Invitational tournaments (the first one then known as the Sweet Science Sixteen tournament) but did not advance past the first round in either of them. World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2009) Upon signing with WWE in February 2005, Anderson was sent to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental territory. After six months he was called up to work on Velocity. Before his first SmackDown! match, a victory over Funaki, he showed himself to be a cocky and arrogant wrestler with not only his mannerisms but by taking a microphone and performing his own ring announcement. He referred to himself as "Mr. Anderson" for this match. A few weeks later, to avoid comparisons with the more famous Anderson family (as well as former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson), he changed his name to "Ken Kennedy", or "Mr. Kennedy". This idea was initially suggested by Paul Heyman and was chosen as his name because it is the middle name of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Independent circuit (2009) In an interview with Pro Wrestling Report on 540 ESPN Radio in Milwaukee, Anderson expressed an interest in joining TNA. Anderson appeared at World Wrestling Council's 2009 Anniversary, where he wrestled, and lost to, former WWE affiliate Eddie Fatu. On Friday October 2, he won the NWE Heavyweight Championship in the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion, when he defeated Chuck Palumbo and Tiny Iron in Malta. He then competed at the Hulkamania tour of Australia, again working with Fatu in what would be Fatu's final matches before his unexpected death on December 4, 2009. Anderson wrestled against Armando Estrada in his retirement match at Great Lakes Championship Wrestling's Blizard Brawl 5. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–present) Debut and feud with Kurt Angle (2010) In January 2010 Anderson signed a one-year deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He would make his return to the company at the Genesis pay-per-view on January 17, 2010, under the ring name Mr. Anderson. As a mystery opponent, he wrestled Abyss, whom he pinned after using brass knuckles, causing him to turn heel. Anderson made his Impact! debut on January 21, 2010. He would deliver a promo explaining why he came to TNA, while disparaging Abyss, which would solidify his status as a heel. Anderson would also begin to refer to himself as an "Asshole", which became an ongoing theme in his future popularity. At Against All Odds Anderson defeated Kurt Angle and Abyss to advance to the finals of the 8 Card Stud Tournament, where he lost to D'Angelo Dinero. On the following edition of Impact! Angle, whom Anderson had defeated by using his dog tags against him, promised to make him suffer for disrespecting U.S. soldiers, which led to Anderson coming out and laying him out by hitting him with a mic, effectively starting a feud between the two. At Destination X Angle defeated Anderson by submission in a rematch. Anderson and Angle were booked in a rubber match inside a steel cage at Lockdown. On the April 5 edition of Impact! Anderson defeated Angle in a ladder match to win possession of the key to the cage door. At Lockdown Angle defeated Anderson in a steel cage match. Enigmatic Assholes At Sacrifice Anderson was defeated by Jeff Hardy. After the match, Anderson, starting to show signs of a face turn, offered to shake Hardy's hand, but the offer was declined. On the following edition of Impact!, Anderson completed his face turn by helping Hardy defeat Sting in the main event of the show. After the match both Anderson and Hardy were attacked by Sting. At Slammiversary VIII Anderson and Hardy, the team now known as the Enigmatic Assholes, defeated Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) in a tag team match. At Victory Road, Anderson and Hardy attempted to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from RVD in a 4-way match, also involving the now-heel Abyss, but were unsuccessful. On the following edition of Impact! Anderson saved former rival D'Angelo Dinero from Matt Morgan. On the July 22 edition of Impact! Anderson defeated Morgan, but was after the match assaulted and bloodied by him. On the August 19 edition of Impact! the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and Anderson was entered into an eight man tournament for the title, defeating Jay Lethal in his first round match. At the semifinals at No Surrender Anderson defeated D'Angelo Dinero to advance to the finals at Bound for Glory. On September 21 TNA president Dixie Carter announced that Anderson had signed a new long term contract with the company. Feud with Immortal At Bound for Glory Anderson failed in his attempt to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, when Jeff Hardy turned heel with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff (forming the heel stable Immortal) and pinned him in a three-way match, which also included Kurt Angle, to win the title and ending his partnership with Hardy in the process. On the October 21 edition of Impact!, Anderson was given an opportunity to earn a shot at Hardy and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point; all he had to do was survive an Ultimate X match with Fortune member Kazarian. Kazarian managed to win the match, following interference from his stable mates, but Anderson survived and thus earned himself a World Heavyweight title shot against Hardy, who attacked him after the match with a chair shot to the back of the head. However, during the attack Anderson suffered a legitimate concussion, which would sideline him for a few weeks and prevented him from taking part in the title match. The vacant spot in the title match ended up going to Matt Morgan, who turned face during Anderson's time away from TNA by standing up for him against Immortal. Anderson returned on the December 2 edition of Impact!, chasing Hardy and Fortune out of the ring, before being announced as the special guest referee for the World Heavyweight title match between Hardy and Morgan at Final Resolution. Anderson was bloodied and taken out of the match by Eric Bischoff, who managed to help Hardy retain the title, after a three count made by a replacement referee. First TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2011) On January 9, 2011, at Genesis Anderson first defeated Matt Morgan in a number one contender's match and immediately afterwards Jeff Hardy to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He lost the title back to Hardy on February 13, 2011 at Against All Odds 2011 in a ladder match. On the February 24 edition of Impact! Anderson defeated Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam in a three–way match to earn a rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship. Anderson was looking to get his title match on the following edition of Impact!, but it was instead given to the returning Sting, who defeated Hardy to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Feud with Sting On the March 10 edition of Impact!, Anderson attacked Sting backstage, after claiming that he had been screwed out of his title match. In the main event of the evening Anderson teamed with rival Jeff Hardy in a tag team match against Rob Van Dam and Sting. During the match Anderson took on more of a role as a tweener by turning on Hardy, before being pinned by Van Dam, following an attack from Sting. On March 13 at Victory Road, Anderson wrestled Rob Van Dam to a double countout in another number one contender's match. On the April 7 edition of Impact!, Anderson feigned joining Immortal, before turning on them and announcing his intention of going after Hulk Hogan next. On April 17 at Lockdown, Anderson failed in his attempt to regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Sting in a three–way steel cage match, which also included Rob Van Dam. On the May 12 edition of Impact!, Anderson defeated 24 other men in a battle royal to earn a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary IX. In the weeks leading to Slammiversary, Anderson tried to get under Sting's skin by dressing up like he did in the early '90's during his "surfer" gimmick, attacking Disco Inferno during his own "Scorpion Sitdown" interview segment and wrestling Eric Young, who was dressed as The Great Muta. Second championship, joining Immortal On June 12 at Slammiversary IX, Anderson defeated Sting after interference from Eric Bischoff, a low blow and a Mic Check to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On June 18 Anderson represented TNA at Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración's (AAA) TripleManía XIX pay-per-view, where he and Abyss unsuccessfully challenged Extreme Tiger and Jack Evans for the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a steel cage match. At the tapings of the July 7 edition of Impact Wrestling, Immortal forced Anderson to choose whether he was with them or against them. In the main event of the evening, Anderson turned on Kurt Angle and joined Immortal. On July 11 at the tapings of the July 14 edition of Impact Wrestling, Anderson lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship back to Sting. Feud with Bully Ray, breaking from Immortal On the July 28 edition of Impact Wrestling, Anderson faced Kurt Angle in a steel cage match, but was defeated following a distraction from fellow Immortal member Bully Ray. The tension between the two stablemates eventually led to a match on August 7 at Hardcore Justice, where Ray defeated Anderson with a low blow. On the following edition of Impact Wrestling, the rest of Immortal turned on Anderson and kicked him out of the group. Anderson returned a week later and attacked both Gunner and Scott Steiner That same week later, he attacked all wrestling members of Immortal. But with Bully Ray fleeing. Other media He appeared in a feature film Fighting The Still Life, directed by Matt Burns, who wrestled under the name Sick Nick Mondo. In late March 2008, Anderson began shooting a role for an action movie in Puerto Rico. The film, titled Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, was released direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray Disc on January 6, 2009 to the sequel of the original 2001 movie, Behind Enemy Lines. Anderson booked the role through WWE. On July 24, 2007, Anderson appeared on Tom Green Live! in character. He also appeared on Slime Across the UK & Ireland in character on August 15. During the week of November 5, he appeared on five episodes of Family Feud with several other WWE superstars. Anderson, along with Mickie James and Josh Mathews, represented the WWE at the 2008 Republican National Convention in an effort to persuade fans to register to vote in the 2008 US Presidential election. During the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2009 Stanley Cup championship run, when National Hockey League winger Tyler Kennedy scored a goal, the Mellon Arena public address team would announce his family name twice, and the local crowd would chant it in a way clearly reminiscent of Anderson's wrestling persona. After his departure from WWE, Anderson created a video blog on YouTube about his life during his 90-day "No Compete" clause. In November 2010 Anderson was a contestant on an all TNA week of Family Feud, teaming with Jay Lethal, Matt Morgan, Mick Foley and Rob Van Dam against Angelina Love, Christy Hemme, Lacey Von Erich, Tara and Velvet Sky. Anderson will also co star in the 2011 movie Dogs Lie. Personal life On August 18, 2007, Anderson gave an interview where he admitted to using steroids when he was on the independent wrestling scene, saying he quit the steroids in November 2005 because of the WWE Wellness Policy and that his job in WWE was worth more than an extra ten pounds of muscle mass. Twelve days later, on August 30, Anderson's statements were shown to be factually incorrect when he, along with nine other WWE wrestlers, were named in a Sports Illustrated article for being given illegal steroids not in compliance with the WWE Talent Wellness Program. Kennedy received anastrozole, somatropin, and testosterone between October 2006 and February 2007. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Brian Adams were also discovered to have been given steroids prior to their death during this investigation, as well as former superstar Sylvain Grenier. Anderson later claimed that the steroids were for a legitimate medical reason, saying that they were from when he tore his latissimus dorsi muscle in 2005. Anderson was previously in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Jessica Kresa, better known by her ring name ODB. He married his girlfriend Shawn Trebnick on January 9, 2008. He has a red and black designed signature tattoo on his upper back, which he describes as "pretty painful" and took nearly eight hours to complete. He also has a clown tattoo on his biceps, which he got at age nineteen because he was voted class clown in high school and is always clowning around, but says it did not turn out the way he wanted it to and plans to get it replaced with another clown that more closely matches what he originally requested. Wrestling facts *'Finishing and signature moves' :*Kenton Bomb :*Green Bay Plunge :*Mic Check *'Nicknames' :*"Kamikaze" :*"A**hole" *'Theme music' :*"Turn Up the Trouble" by Airbourne (WWE) - remixed twice :*"With a Mic" by Jim Johnston (WWE) :*"Your Disease" by Saliva (OVW) :*"Feedback" by Dale Oliver (TNA; 2010–present) Championships and accomplishments *'All–Star Championship Wrestling' **ACW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) **ACW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Mike Mercury **ACW Television Championship (1 time) *'Mid–American Wrestling' **MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'NWA Midwest' **NWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Nu-Wrestling Evolution' **NWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'21' of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 2007 *'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling' **TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'World Wrestling Entertainment' **WWE United States Championship (1 time) **Mr. Money in the Bank (2007) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter' **Best Gimmick (2005) *'Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling' **XICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joey Padgett *'Other titles' **UPCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Big Daddy Loker See also *Mr. Kennedy’s event history External links *Ken-Kennedy.com (Official Website) * Mr. Kennedy profile at CAGEMATCH.net zh:Mr. Kennedy Category:1976 births Category:American wrestlers Category:Deep South Wrestling alumni Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Great Lakes Championship Wrestling alumni Category:IWA Mid-South alumni Category:NWA Mid American Wrestling alumni Category:Northeast Wrestling alumni Category:Nu-Wrestling Evolution alumni Category:Ohio Valley Wrestling alumni Category:Top Rope Promotions alumni Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling current roster Category:World Wrestling Council alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:WWE United States Champions Category:TNA World Heavyweight Champions Category:1999 debuts Category:Money in the Bank winners Category:Aces & 8's Category:Minnesota wrestlers